So, you wanna be a filmmaker, eh? Find out what it's really like to live the life of a fiercely independent filmmaker from award-winning filmmaker and Filmmakers Alliance founder, Jacques Thelemaque. A regular catalogue of anecdotes, insights, nightmares, facts, fictions, tips, tricks, cautionary tales and more....

And, I'm certain there's a much more that I'm forgetting - or simply not aware of. And, of course, there's also great stuff like LA Film Forum and Cinefamily, that happens on a regular basis.

Since I am an associate programmer of the LA Film Festival - as well as Filmmakers Alliance being a participating org - you will be hearing a lot more about that fest from me in the upcoming days. But I urge you, if you're in LA, to support your filmmaking community - and yourself - and get out to as much of this as you can!!

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Today is the final, final LAST DAY to take advantage of Filmmakers Alliance's extended pre-launch membership offer of $10 per year (normally $19.99) or $100 for a LIFETIME membership. Or sign up ten filmmakers and receive a complimentary LIFETIME membership.

Not only will you get all the advantages of membership, you'll be eligible to win one of the following perks*:

A NEW PERK: A free AFM 2014 Badge. It includes access to Show Floor & Screenings, tickets to the AFM Conference Series, free Wi-Fi throughout the Loews Hotel, one year membership to AFM365™, the AFM's Online Community, access to the AFM Filmmakers Lounge at Le Merigot Hotel, access to the Industry Conversations Series (until full), invitation to an AFM Orientation with AFM Managing Director.

The NEW Filmmakers Alliance website is launching in July 2014, but we are offering an April-only “pre-launch” membership offer of $10 PER YEAR (regularly $19.99). Yes, per year! We are offering this to current and former FA members and others who are part of the FA family. Sign up anytime between now and midnight TONIGHT for just $10 for membership lasting until May 31st, 2015. Connect with your filmmaking community, get access to amazing resources and win a free trip to The Sundance Film Festival 2015!!

Access to donations, discounts, promotions and other partner offers. That includes equipment, software, site subscriptions, Org memberships, festival/competition submissions, event fees and much more.

Eligibility for competitions and giveaways. Including cameras, software, insurance packages and more. Our first competition will earn you a free trip to The Sundance Film Festival 2015!

Automatic enrollment in FA’s “Frequent Filmmaker Program”. Earn points for ANY online activity (posts, responses, click-thrus, purchases, etc.) which you can then redeem for tons of GREAT filmmaking stuff. Join NOW and get 1,000 points! That’s an awesome jumpstart on your free filmmaking reward.

We will also be brokering new discounts for FA members throughout the year to such things as festivals, seminars, workshops, rental houses, insurance packages and more.

So, come be a part of the filmmaking community that Filmmaking Stuff called " one of the ten best filmmaking websites". You’ll get the connectivity, information, resources and support you've always needed, but now you'll also get an immense package of benefits that will make your filmmaking life cheaper and easier - freeing you to be the filmmaker you were born to be.

For just $10 per year.

ALSO, the first 100 filmmakers will get a free gift card from one of these 4 partners*:

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Wanna Know About Me? Read....

Born in Brooklyn. Moved to Colorado in 1969. Moved to Tehran, Iran in 1976. Went to Los Angeles in 1980.

After
attending both USC and UCLA in the 80's, Jacques secured a
3-picture writing deal with Imagine Entertainment.

In 1993,
Jacques co-founded Filmmakers Alliance. As
President, he built the grassroots collective into an important
independent filmmaking community and resource
organization with films screening at every major
festival in the world. He’s overseen the production
of hundreds of films (mostly shorts) and developed
a wide range of innovative and dynamic filmmaking
support programs.

In 2005,
he was named Chief Community Officer of the festival submission/filmmaker
support site, Withoutabox.com

Jacques and partner Liam Finn formed FA Productions in 2004, of which they are
Co-Presidents. Jacques has produced several feature films including "Shock
Television", ""The Dogwalker", "Within",
"Midnight Movie" and "The Revenant" and is a co-producer on
Brooklyn Reptyle’s "Audie and the Wolf". He most recently produced a
national ad spot for Coke Zero.

His
writer-director filmography includes the feature film "The Dogwalker"
(Los Angeles Film Festival, Hong Kong International Film Festival, Best First
Feature - Cinequest Film Festival), as well as the shorts "My Last Day On
Earth" (Seattle International Film Festival. Ashland Independent Film
Festival), "Transaction" (Sundance Film Festival, winner of the Grand
Prix du Jury Award in the Labo Competition at the Clermont-Ferrand
International Short Film Festival), "Infidelity In Equal Parts"
(Sundance Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival), "Egg" (Mill Valley
Film Festival, Best Comedy Short - Cinequest Film Festival, Jury Award for Best
Short – Methodfest) and "Love Without Socks" (AFI International Film
Festival). Jacques has recently completed two new feature film scripts,
"Rust", and "Hurricane Jane" as well as the short script
for "RedWhite And Blue"
as one of ten filmmakers involved in the feature-length omnibus project.He's also written over a dozen short
scripts for3rd Page a new
writing/filmmaking collective he helps manage. He begins shooting his newest
feature “Connection” in early 2014.

Jacques
also self-distributed his feature film "The The Dogwalker" in 2006 as
well as worked on the distribution team for "America So Beautiful" in
2004.

Jacques
has been a juror, guest lecturer or invited speaker for many film schools, film
festivals, film organizations, workshops, and other film-related events. He
recently taught and consulted part-time at AMDA in Hollywood. He’s formerly sat
on the advisory board for The Los Angeles Independent Film Festival (now the
Los Angeles Film Festival), the IFP Emerging Filmmaker Labs, The Ashland
Independent Film Festival, The Santa Monica Film Festival, The Silver Lake Film
Festival and the Downtown Film Festival.

Jacques
has also programmed screening events and has been a programming associate for
the Los Angeles Film Festival since 2011.

CineThoughts

The cinema is not an art which films life: the cinema is something between art and life. Unlike painting and literature, the cinema both gives to life and takes from it, and I try to render this concept in my films. Literature and painting both exist as art from the very start; the cinema doesn't. - Jean-Luc GodardTo have a life as a filmmaker, you must continue to make films. Like filmmaking, being a filmmaker is a process. It demands education, experience and exposure.The most difficult thing in the world is to reveal yourself, to express what you have to. As an artist, I feel that we must try many things, but above all we must dare to fail. You must be willing to risk everything to really express it all. - John Cassavetes

Good is the enemy of great. Look beyond praise to the truth of what you're creating.

Juxtaposing a person with an environment that is boundless, collating him with a countless number of people passing by close to him and far away, relating a person to the whole world, that is the meaning of cinema. - Andrei Tarkovsky

Be a true filmmaker, a true creative being. Not a merchant. Make films from and for your soul.Some rainy winter Sunday when there's a little boredom, you should carry a gun. Not to shoot yourself, but to know exactly that you're always making a choice. - Lina Wertmuller

To tell you the truth, in my work, love is always in opposition to the elements. It creates dilemmas. It brings in suffering. We can't live with it, and we can't live without it. You'll rarely find a happy ending in my work. - Krzysztof Kieslowski"I mean simply to say that I want my characters to suggest the background in themselves, even when it is not visible. I want them to be so powerfully realized that we cannot imagine them apart from their physical and social context even when we see them in empty space." - Michelangelo Antonioni

I formulated my own directing style in my own head, proceeding without any unnecessary imitation of others…for me there was no such thing as a teacher. I have relied entirely on my own strength. - Yasujiro Ozu

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Click the text link below to find out what events are going on in the world of independent film. If you know of something cool and film-related going on, please let me know at jacques@filmmakersalliance.com and I'll probably post it.